Our Approach
HUMES’ founders met with community members, learners, stakeholders, government officials, donors and experienced development workers to canvas their views on how best to deliver sustainable programs. A number of conclusions were reached, amongst them:
Donor funding has created a false belief that money is required to achieve results and when spent, all activities must stop and members become idle. HUMES was established as an agency-community partnership, to avoid the trap of dependency that develops when donor funding is given to a target group for particular activities that do not extend beyond the scope of the NGO in charge of administering it.
Education is a component of a wholistic package
Personal development cannot be achieved solely through education. Other issues such as clean water, health, food scarcity, social inequalities and human rights may take precedence. Academic education may never become a priority for a family struggling to survive.
HUMES presents an experiential model of instruction, offering interventions, ideas and support for expressed community needs.
HUMES was established as a demand driven agency, responding to expressed requests for assistance or information. Activities guided by those t
hat are to benefit from them, have a higher success and endurance rate than those set up to meet the objectives of funders or agencies.
By integrating into Kisowera, through living and working there, HUMES has become an active participant in that community's development vision. HUMES’ goal is to develop the mechanism for experiential learning; to provide an opening for future community development; and to maintain a model of best practices for other communities.
HUMES knows of many innovative and creative solutions to problems faced by developing nations. By providing information, experiential training and grassroots financial assistance, communities can become self reliant.
However, the deficit model of delivery, where beneficiaries are seen as lacking, is disempowering and creates further dependency. HUMES takes a strengths based approach, believing that community members have the skills to find solutions to their needs and should be engaged in the process of discovery and learning.
Participatory practices produce results
Communities that come together to develop a common vision; identify the gaps between where they are and where they desire to be; problem solve ways to attain their goals; and then commit to the steps required to get there, develop sustainable practices for growth.
HUMES is the facilitator of this process, empowering communities to look within to solve their needs.
